Archive for the ‘YA’ Category

 

Link by Link: An Anthology of Haunted Holidays
Publication date: December 2nd 2020
Genres: Holiday, Paranormal, Supernatural, Young Adult

“‘I wear the chain I forged in life,’ replied the Ghost. ‘I made it link by link…’”-Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

Link by Link is a collection of 9 stories of ghosts, spirits, and creatures unnamed, all come to teach lessons we won’t soon forget. From sweet Christmas tales to terrifying holiday hauntings, these stories take a dive into the past in the hopes of creating a better—or at least different—future.

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The Stories Stars Tell
C.L. Walters
Publication date: October 13th 2020
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult

 

Synopsis

Ever felt like the sum total of your choices have fixed your story in the stars?

For Emma Matthews, she feels like all of her choices are rooted in the fear of letting down her parents… God…of never being good enough.

For Tanner James, he’s wearing an identity he has created with his friends and their pact—Bro Code—fixed in sex, alcohol and bad choices.

Both are longing for a new story they look to one another to help them write.

Follow Emma and Tanner as they rewrite stories they thought had already been written into something new. To discover sometimes painful truths about love and identity.

About the ways that love can help us lose ourselves… or find ourselves.

How love can break us… or heal us.

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EXCERPT:

tanner

[…]I stood. “I’m going,” I told Griff, who had a girl sitting on his lap I didn’t know.

He smiled over her shoulder at me and presented his knuckles. The girl whispered something in his ear, and Griff laughed. She was attractive. Dark haired.

My mind drifted to Emma Matthews (which was strange since we weren’t friends). I’d seen her the day before with her friend, Liam, hanging a poster for some club or function in the hall after school, heads together about something. Under usual circumstances, I wouldn’t have noticed, but in this case, I had because I’d noticed Emma and how cute she was. I had noticed her for a while, but she was out of my league.

Emma wouldn’t be partying like this. She definitely wouldn’t be sitting in Griff’s lap, and if she were, it would piss me off, but I didn’t consider why. She was probably at home, doing something productive, like homework, or a group study session. Perhaps she was doing something fun and wholesome, like a movie with her friends. I wondered if she went to the movies. Though I wasn’t exactly sure why I wondered, because I wasn’t a big movie goer (too boring to sit in one spot for too long).

Why was I even thinking of Emma at all?

It wasn’t like we talked. Sometimes, I thought she might be looking at me in the cafeteria at school or in the hallway as we passed one another. Her pretty eyes always slid away, but they made me curious. What color were they? Was she just glancing at me, or was she looking? I used to think about her. A lot. That started in the eighth grade when she yelled at Cole Butler in science during a lab. She’d been so fiery and funny. The memory still made me smile. We hadn’t had many classes together — one or two, maybe — because she actually tried at school.

I shook my head to get my errant thoughts about Emma out of my mind. Leaving Griff and Wannabe Emma behind, I walked through the living room.

Deb stopped me with a hand on my chest. “Hey, Tanner. Want to dance?” An invitation.

The message was clear: I could have stayed there with her and gotten laid, but it made me tired. Instead I said, “I’m looking for Penelope,” and even as I said it, I was hoping she’d already left.

Deb shrugged, because that was as much as I meant to her. “Upstairs,” she told me and returned to grinding to the music with her group of friends.

I moved through the crush of people toward the stairs, even though I wasn’t sure why I was going through these motions. A different choice seemed an impossibility, though I couldn’t articulate why that was so. Josh and Danny were sitting in a group smoking weed, and they offered me a head nod as I passed. I gave them an eyebrow raise in return and started up the stairs.

Near the top, I almost tripped on someone sitting on the steps. “Whoa.” It was a girl folded over on herself, and because I’m not a complete douchebag, despite what I know has been said about me, I leaned down and asked her, “You okay?”

The girl tipped her head up to look at me, and suddenly, I was looking into the face of…

“Emma Matthews?”

She smiled, and it lit up her eyes — dark blue with swirls of gray — like stars in a dark sky. “Tanner James.”

“Are you drunk?” I asked. I was too, but not enough to help me forget that Emma was the object of my secret fantasies, along with the fact I’d just been thinking about her. I shook my head to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. There wasn’t anything in our experiences that should have contributed to our paths crossing, and yet, there she was, as if I’d conjured her. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m feeling really good.” She smiled again, and I remembered feeling that smile in my stomach like a lead weight had melted into molten liquid.

“Why are you sitting here on the stairs?”

“Waiting.”

“For what?”

“You.” She giggled.

That made no sense. First, why would Emma Matthews be at this party? Second, why would she be drunk? And third, why would she say she was waiting for me? I wondered if someone was playing a joke on me and even looked around, but it was just the two of us in the hallway. I slid down the wall and sat next to her. “You’re definitely drunk if you’re waiting for me.”

“Did I say that?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh. That’s a secret.” She pressed a finger to my lips, and that touch dove all the way from the top of my neck to the base of my spine like I’d been zapped with electricity. “I’m supposed to find Liam.” Then she moved her finger from my lips to hers, her dark blue eyes — flecks of green and aqua too — never leaving my mouth. “Shh.”

My heart pounded in my chest, excited by the form her lips took against her finger. “Damn, Emma. I didn’t know you drank.”

“Me either.”

I attempted an inconspicuous adjustment of my pants, because I started feeling that tingle in my crotch and needed to calm that shit down. I chuckled, amused, because I hadn’t caught wood from just a look and a touch since I was, like, fourteen. I decided the honorable thing to do was help her find her friend, which led to the decision to dump looking for Penelope. I hadn’t really wanted to be with Penelope outside of sex anyway, and that left me feeling dirty. “Shall we go look for Liam?”

Her eyes roved over every inch of my face. She reached up and touched my lips with her fingertips again; it was tender. “You have a nice mouth, Tanner James.”

My stomach tightened. I tried to remember that reaction. It was a hungry craving, the anticipation of the satiation of a voracious appetite, but it was also so distant. I hadn’t been aware I’d been missing it until it resurfaced inside of me.

“You want to hear a secret?” she asked and leaned closer to me, though I had the impression she thought she was whispering. “I’ve wanted to try and kiss it.”

Her admission made me smile, and my heart thumped a little more. I realized that while I’d been fantasizing about her, perhaps she’d thought about me too. Knowing that made me feel buoyant. “You have? Well, I could remedy that for you, but I’m afraid you wouldn’t remember it. I would want you to.” It was a truth. I wanted Emma to remember me.

“I would,” she said, wide-eyed, and nodded. “I promise.”

I stood up, needing the distance, because I was afraid I might kiss her. As I did, she held my arm, and I almost toppled onto her. I self-corrected and took her hand to help her up. Once upright, she stumbled against me, and I caught her waist with my hands while her other arm wrapped around my neck. My heart was now knocking against the wall of my ribs. She was so close, so pretty, so pressed against me. I looked at her mouth, heart-shaped pink. She licked her lips, and my belly buzzed. I wanted to kiss her so badly, but I chickened out, which was part of why I didn’t; it also felt wrong on some level. I could take advantage, but I didn’t want to. On the other hand, I wanted to extend my time with her, so when I said, “Come on. Let’s go look for Liam.” I took her deeper into the house instead of down the stairs, which was probably the more likely place to look. I wasn’t being altruistic.

She put her hand in mine.

I noticed how soft her skin was, and I wondered about the rest of her.

“I don’t want to find Liam,” she insisted as we walked down the hall. “I want to wait for Tanner.”

“I’m right here.” I looked over my shoulder at her.

Her eyes brightened again, the outside corners scrunching with joy. “Oh! It is you.”

“How much did you have to drink, Em?” I asked.

She held up four fingers. “Two.”

“We should get you some water. Let’s find a place for you to sit.”

I started testing doors in the hallway. Honestly, on one level, I knew what I was doing. I wanted to be alone with her, even if I didn’t want to cheapen the moment. I think I justified it to myself. I needed to find her a place to sober up. Deep down, though, it was a lingering understanding of a latent wish buried in the darkness of my fantasies attached to what she’d said: Waiting. For you. You have a nice mouth. I’ve wanted to try and kiss it.

Emma Matthews was waiting for me.

The knowledge made my heart swell even if I couldn’t believe it. Even if I didn’t — couldn’t — trust it. I wanted to keep the idea close, to remember it, to hold it tight. I knew the moment this was over, it would slip away.

“Em?” I asked as I tested another door.

She made a moaning noise to indicate she’d heard me.

“Why were you waiting for me?”

“I like Tanner. I want to be brave.”

My brain wasn’t quick enough, because it was slugging through the marsh of alcohol. I understood what she was saying, but I didn’t quite comprehend it. “You like me?”

She nodded emphatically. “I saw him.”

“What did you see?” I asked her as I tested another door.

“He helped Connor. At lunch. I saw him. I see him. Everyday. He helps Connor.”

Lunch time. Connor Festner, a kid I help with his tray. Griff gives me shit for it, but Connor is pretty badass and probably beats Griff’s butt playing Duty online. Connor’s given me tons of gaming pointers.

She had been watching me at lunch. I’d known it. My expanded heart compressed, constricted in my chest with a pressure that somehow made me feel like I might be floating off into space without oxygen.

I tested another door. This one opened. The bedroom was empty, and I took a deep breath. Relief. “Here.” I helped her sit on the bed. “Let me have your cup, and I’ll fill it with water.”

She handed me her red cup, and I took it into the bathroom. I rinsed it out and put in water. Before I walked back into the room, I glanced at myself in the mirror. I stared into my own eyes and whispered to my reflection: “It’s Emma. Don’t be a dick.”

When I returned to the room, she was curled up on the bed, eyes closed. “Here, Em.”

She turned her head, looked at me and smiled as if it was the first time she’d seen me that night. “Tanner!” She reached for me, and I had the impression she wanted me to stretch out next to her.

Don’t be a dick, I reminded myself and helped her to sit back up. “Drink some water.”

She took a sip. “Liam says I’m dumb.”

“That isn’t nice of him.” Her statement annoyed me. I sat down next to her, suddenly absolved we weren’t looking for him.

She shook her head. “No. Not like that.” She stopped and took another sip. “Because I wanted to come to find you.”

“Why?”

“I’m scared.”

“Of what?”

“Of everything.” She took another sip and then leaned her head against my shoulder.

I could smell her — a nice scent that was clean and slightly sweet, like vanilla or cotton candy. I resisted the impulse to press my nose into her neck to find out for sure, or to run my tongue across her skin to taste it. Instead, we sat like that for a long time — her head on my shoulder, my hands in my lap and my brain chastising me for smelling her like a freak.

The doorknob wiggled several times as people tested the door; I was smart enough to lock it. Habit. I tried to tell myself it was because I was trying to protect Emma from my reputation, but it was also the temptation to maybe just get to kiss her once. I didn’t make a move though, and that was unfamiliar — and kind of exciting — territory for me.

“Tell me what you’re afraid of,” I said eventually, ending the silence, and also because I wanted to know if she’d fallen asleep. I needed to keep my mind occupied with other things besides thoughts about kissing her. I was beginning to feel more coherent and sober.

“I told you. Everything.” Her hands flailed out, and when they settled, one landed on my thigh. My skin tingled under her touch, and heat spread like radiant light from a lightbulb to illuminate all the dark parts of me.

I swallowed and closed my eyes to focus on her words. The words. “Well, name me one thing.”

“Failure.”

“Everyone’s afraid of that.” I looked down at her hand. Casually rested. On my thigh. Emma’s hand. Her fingernails were painted a bright green and matched her hoop earrings.

“Disappointing my parents,” she said. “Disappointing God.”

I looked at her then, the candor of her statement running through me almost as hot as her touch. It wasn’t practiced. It wasn’t her act of being flirty or a ploy to seduce me. It was just an honest statement. Maybe I couldn’t relate to either of those, even if I wanted to. My parents were so blind to me outside of the tug-of-war they played, using me against one another. And God? Never experienced that in my life, unless having an orgasm counted as prayer. “And?”

She moved her head from my shoulder and turned to look at me. “Never kissing Tanner James.”

My stomach did another of those nose dives into my body, toward my groin. The heat of her hand still warmed my leg. I noticed her eyes, fringed in thick lashes, rove over my face. They came to rest on my mouth. Under different circumstances, I probably wouldn’t have cared and would have provided what she wanted. I wanted it — bad — but I’d found some weird sense of honor I hadn’t been aware I had. “I can’t, Em. You’re drunk.” These were those different circumstances. Emma represented a different kind of life I didn’t think I deserved.

“You don’t like me.” She moved back, slumped a little, her shoulders rounding, and folded her hands in her lap. “It’s okay.”

I missed the weight of her hand on my leg. “It isn’t that.” I leaned forward to try and meet her gaze. “I do like you.”

She sat up quickly, her eyes big and bright. “I got it! I will kiss you. Then you don’t have to kiss me. I’ll do the kissing.”

This made me laugh, because I thought it was one of the cutest things I’d ever heard. And she was so excited by the prospect, as if she’d discovered something new. I couldn’t remember having more fun on a Saturday night.

“Unless, you think I’m — ugly.” Her eyebrows arched over her wide eyes, but now she couldn’t look at me.

I shook my head. “Nope, Emma. I don’t think that. At all.”

Her eyes met mine again, and she said with a slight frown, “The easiness is wearing off. We better do this fast, before I come back.”

I scrunched up my face. “What?”

“If I come back–” she tapped her head– “I’ll be too scared. My head will get in the way. My bravery will melt off.”

“Liquid courage.” I tapped her cup.

She nodded. “I made a plan. I was waiting for you.”

“Really?”

“I, maybe, drank a little too much. Miscalculated.”

I smiled. “And you were waiting for me. Why?”

“To kiss you.” She laid her hand on my arm.

I took a deep breath, as if her touch returned a missing piece of my soul, and I needed to breathe it in. Her admission had me unbalanced, however. My usual practiced lyrics receded from the surprise. I’ve had girls try and lure me with their sexuality, but this? This was totally new. “Why again, Em?”

“Because I saw you. You helped Connor. That’s nice, Tanner. And I think it’s sexy. And I don’t want Keven Bennett to be my only kiss.”

I glanced at her mouth, thought about her kissing Keven Bennett, and was annoyed by it. Then I looked at my hands in my lap. She saw me not because of how I looked. It was because I helped Connor that made me sexy to her. It wasn’t partying or being drunk. It wasn’t a rumor that I knew how to have sex. It wasn’t being smart at school. It was because I’d done something unselfish. “Keven Bennett, huh?”

She wrinkled her nose. “He has a lizard tongue.”

I chuckle. “That’s not good.”

She adjusted her body. “So, is it okay if I kiss you?”

“Who would you be kissing? Just for clarification.” I was testing the truth, not believing it.

“Tanner James. You.” She faced me, drawing her knees up between us, where they pressed against the outside of my thigh. “I see you. I’m not that drunk anymore.”

Her words were enough for me to nod, to give myself permission to cross the line, and indulge my curiosity. “Yes. Okay.”

“You have to turn.” She directed me with her hands on my arms, turning me toward her but with her knees between us.

I watched her working out the problem, completely satisfied in the moment, enjoying her and her cute pout. Her dark, curly hair fell around her heart-shaped face as she looked down at our legs.

“This won’t do.”

“It does seem rather awkward.”

She stood. “Stand up.” She remained steady, the alcohol wearing off, and held her hands out to me.

I took them and stood. When I looked down at her, my heartbeat quickened. The movement of her eyes caressed my face, and for the first time, I understood what it felt like to be seen — really seen. For me, Tanner. Not because of some rumor about what I could do, or because there was enough alcohol in my system to lower my inhibitions.

“Tanner?” She reached up and put her hands on my face.

“Yes, Em?”

“Can you bend down? Just a little bit?” She drew me closer.

I leaned forward, cataloguing all of her attributes. My heart went bat-shit crazy inside my chest. I noticed the width of her blue eyes, the fullness of her dark eyebrows, the way her bottom lip was a tiny bit fuller than the top, the way her pert nose was slightly upturned and kissed with tiny freckles that reached out across her cheeks.

I couldn’t believe she didn’t have a boyfriend. Did I want to be a boyfriend? Why was I thinking about that? I wasn’t boyfriend material.

Her gaze flicked to my lips — her tongue darted out to wet her own — then her eyes slipped up to my eyes before sliding shut as she pressed her lips to mine.

It was a gentle kiss, soft. Her mouth was warm and pliable against mine. My heart tripped into a more intense speed. Then her lips parted, and she used her tongue to coax me to be an active participant. As much as I tried to not be a dick, that was the last straw of my self-control. I answered the tease of her tongue with my own. Suddenly, where the kiss started as one-sided and tentative, it exploded, because my whole body was an exposed nerve ending. Every sensation — her hands in my hair, her mouth, her tongue, the whisper of her clothing when she moved, the soft noise she emitted because I became involved —was enough to light me on fire.

I’d dreamed of Emma.

I lifted her.

She wrapped her legs around my waist and hugged me closer with her arms around my neck.

Our tongues moved together, and it all felt like a first time. It was. With her. Exciting. Novel.

She moaned into my mouth.

I stumbled forward until her back was pressed against the wall and then my hands wandered, molded, massaged. I forgot myself. Just let go […]

 

Author Bio:

As a kid, CL Walters, world revolved around two things: stories and make believe. She’s built a real life around those two things: a teacher of stories and a writer of make believe.

With four books now published, she’s looking forward to her fifth release October 13, 2020, a YA Contemporary Romance called The Stories Stars Tell.

Sign up for her newsletter for news, goodies, and fun (www.clwalters.net)

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Welcome to my stop on the virtual book tour for Silent Scream organized by Goddess Fish Promotions.

Marcia Colette will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Don’t forget to enter!

You can click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Silent Scream

by Marcia Colette

55743155. sy475

Synopsis

Psychokinetic teen Phaedra Thorne is back! Her life consists of balancing her high school and college courses while trying to keep the peace between her older brother Kurt and little sister Nadia. On top of that, their schizophrenic and psychokinetic mom remains locked away in the attic. Believe it or not, things are better than they have ever been.

Those “better times” go up in flames when the only sanctuary the Thornes have ever known–their home–is burnt to the ground. With Kurt severely injured and their mother missing, Phae and Nadia have been left in the hands of the supernatural foster care system. Just as the Thorne sisters start to settle in with her temporary family, a blast from their horrific past comes to their foreboding rescue. Phae has good reason to be apprehensive about the new arrangements, considering many supernaturals want to buy the burnt out husk of a home and have taken a liking to her psychokinesis and Nadia’s uncanny prowess. There’s only one thing Phae can do. Find their mother.

Having been kidnapped, assaulted, and sold to the highest bidder, Phae will have to learn how to trust other members of her estranged family, if she has any hopes of saving the immediate one she loves.

Here’s a glimpse inside:

“Phaedra if the house is on fire, you can’t go back inside. Just wait, okay? Wait until the fire department gets there. Hell, wait for me to get there. If nothing else, I heal a lot faster than you.”

“I can’t. The fire looks like it started in the attic and at least a third of the roof is smoldering. One way or another I’ll be blasting my way out of there with my mom and my brother in tow.” I handed the phone to Nadia who was shivering, eyes filled with tears. “Mason’s coming for you. You don’t leave this yard without him, do you understand? If the cops come, don’t scream. Just stay here unless they find you first. I’ll be back. That’s a promise.”

“Phae,” she pleaded. “Don’t go. Stay with me. I’m scared.”

Oh my god. My gut wavered. Why did she have to go there? I pulled her into another tight hug and kissed her head hard enough to leave a mark. Tears filled my eyes until they washed down my cheeks. I hated leaving her. Hated it more than anything else in the world. But there would be at least one guaranteed dead body up there if I didn’t get to Kurt before our mother did. She was a rabid animal when she was in crazed-rage mode. Add fire to it and there was no telling how far her psychotic personality would go to rip him apart. My powers were as strong as hers, so I knew I could take her. The only problem was my powers were just as sporadic as her psychosis. Anything was possible, but my family’s chances were non-existent if I did nothing.

About Author Marcia Colette:

I’m Marcia Colette and I love to write urban fantasy, YA, horror, and paranormal romance. Since I was never a voracious reader until later in life, I try to write stories that I like to read, and for readers who don’t have a lot of time in their busy lives.

My first published novel started with Half Breed (formerly known as Stripped) and my fantasy life took off from there. My next novel was a paranormal romance entitled Unstable Environment and I also released Bittersweet (YA), Hazardous Environment (Paranormal Romance), The Spider Inside Her (Urban Fantasy), and Deadlier by the Dozen (Urban Fantasy). I have sold several short stories and novellas to Mocha Memoirs Press and I continued my Alexa York series with Purple Sword Publications.

When I’m not reading or writing, I live my best life in the real world as an IT Manager and enjoy getting into trouble with my manga-loving daughter. I can’t draw, so she’s out of luck with that one. However, I always write a little piece of her into each of my characters.

And before I forget, I also write science fiction under another pen name.

Author Links: Website / Facebook / Twitter / Blog

Buy on Amazon

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The Caging at Deadwater Manor
by Sandie Will
Genre: YA Psychological Thriller, Horror
“This book is ‘One flew over the Cukoos nest’ on speed.” Goodreads reviewer
A dad with a vendetta. An unsuspecting daughter. A psychiatric hospital known for questionable acts. And staff who keep secrets in the attic.
FIRST PLACE – FLORIDA WRITERS ASSOCIATION – ROYAL PALM LITERARY AWARD FOR YOUNG ADULT/NEW ADULT FICTION
RECIPIENT OF THE 2017 READERS’ FAVORITE HONORABLE MENTION BOOK AWARD IN YA HORROR
On a cold, January evening, fourteen-year-old Jeannie Kynde is told that her beloved mother drowned in the murky waters along Florida’s Gulf Coast. Her distraught father turns on Jeannie, no longer the caring father she once knew. Four years later, Jeannie is finally old enough to escape her father’s clutches, but he has different plans. He imprisons her at Deadwater Manor, a psychiatric hospital with an unscrupulous past. Between endless psychiatric treatments and a hospital staff up to no good, Jeannie faces insurmountable odds as each day ticks away. Will she be locked away forever? Or can she fight against the nightmare that has now become her world?
If you like suspenseful shockers, you’re sure to love this psychological thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat and stay with you long afterward. Check out the great reviews on this novel that debuted on the #1 Hot New Releases bestseller list.
Note: This book is intended for mature young adult, new adult, and older audiences due to profanity and sensual content.
BACKGROUND:
The inspiration for the story came from Sandie’s beloved father who worked in various psychiatric hospitals during short periods of his career. In the attic of one such hospital, he made a disturbing discovery – one that bothered Sandie so much, she had to create a story around it. Though fiction, many parts of the book intertwine the patient routines, treatments and outbursts that she learned from her father and other research in a way that makes the story vivid through Jeannie’s perspective.
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**On Sale for only $2.99!!**
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Sandie Will is an international award-winning psychological thriller novelist who lives in Tampa Bay, Florida, and works as a geologist by day. She has published two novels and another is on the way. Her first novel, The Caging at Deadwater Manor, is a young adult psychological thriller/horror that received first place in the 2018 Florida Writers Association Royal Palm Literary Awards for young adult/new adult fiction and an honorable mention in the 2017 Readers’ Favorite Book Awards for young adult horror. Her second is a recently released adult psychological thriller/horror titled, The Takings that is a Finalist in the 2020 Florida Writers Association Royal Palm Literary Awards for Blended Fiction. She is currently working on the sequel which will be released in 2020/2021. She has been married to her husband, Charlie, for over 30 years and they have two sons. Her favorite place to write is in her back room “treehouse” in the arms of an old oak.
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Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!
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Witches Protection Program
by Michael Okon
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy
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MY REVIEW
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Poor Wes. He’s failed again and now he’s been given one last chance to prove himself qualified to be in law enforcement. He’s sure it’s a prank when he’s assigned to the Witches Protection Program.

It’s no hoax. But it takes some convincing for Wes to believe in witches. He gets it in spades.

His first assignment, protect a witch, heiress Morgan Pendragon, from her evil aunt. Her aunt is cooking up a diabolical scheme to rule the world.

Wes will have to catch on quick if he’s to save Morgan and himself from a witches brew of trouble.

This was a fun story with some likable and not so likable characters. Got to take the good with the bad.

Wes is a pain in the beginning. Then he finds his place and becomes someone to cheer for.

Morgan is a reluctant witch, wanting nothing to do with her aunt or the other witches and their schemes. They’re not going to give her a choice though.

There’s some cool weapons, compelling characters, and a showdown at the end that I wish I could see for myself. Just imagine the pile-up when drivers look up and see witches flying in the sky.

I like a good witch, but I have a thing for the bad ones too. There’s one, Morgan’s aunt, who will chill you to the bone. Too powerful for anyone’s good.

Grab a broomstick and hang on tight. It’s a bumpy ride.

4 Stars
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Wes Rockville, a disgraced law-enforcement agent, gets one last chance to prove himself and save his career when he’s reassigned to a 232-year-old secret government organization.
The Witches Protection Program.
His first assignment: uncover a billion-dollar cosmetics company’s diabolical plan to use witchcraft for global domination, while protecting its heiress Morgan Pendragon from her aunt’s evil deeds. Reluctantly paired with veteran witch protector, Alastair Verne, Wes must learn to believe in witches…and believe in himself.
Filled with adventure and suspense, Michael Okon creates a rousing, tongue-in-cheek alternate reality where witches cast spells and wreak havoc in modern-day New York City.
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Michael Okon is an award-winning and best-selling author of multiple genres including paranormal, thriller, horror, action/adventure and self-help. He graduated from Long Island University with a degree in English, and then later received his MBA in business and finance. Coming from a family of writers, he has storytelling in his DNA. Michael has been writing from as far back as he can remember, his inspiration being his love for films and their impact on his life. From the time he saw The Goonies, he was hooked on the idea of entertaining people through unforgettable characters.
Michael is a lifelong movie buff, a music playlist aficionado, and a sucker for self-help books. He lives on the North Shore of Long Island with his wife and children.
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Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!
$10 Amazon giftcard, Print Copy of Book – 1 winner each
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I am an Amazon Affiliate. Product images are linked.



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The Crow King
M. H. Woodscourt
(Wintervale, #1)
Publication date: September 1st 2020
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

Magic is against the law. He must use it anyway.

The Crow King has outlawed magic. Despite the kingdom’s edict, Gwyn plunges into the ancient and deadly True Wood to find a magical cure for his dying brother. Within the shadowed realm, he must fend off more than violent and fallen fae-like Ilidreth when he learns the king is out to stop him at whatever cost.

On his desperate quest, he is joined by a unicorn, a quirky girl, and the maddest of the fallen fae. Together they must outrun enchanted crows and enemy armies, and face the ghosts of a shattered age, all while racing to save Gwyn’s brother. Meanwhile, war brews between countries, and a secret order of mages hunts Gwyn down.

Yet none of this can prepare Gwyn for the harrowing truth behind the fall of the Ilidreth long, long ago, and what it means for his life and his homeland.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble

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Enjoy the glimpse inside:

Mist curled over the quiet hills of Vinwen. Somewhere a bird trilled, prophesying the coming dawn, and the sun answered with a ring of gold spilling over the horizon as it peeked at the slumbering world. Lazy clouds drifted by, grey, dappled with faint pinks and yellows.

Sitting on the wooden fence, Gwynter ren Terare squinted against the hovering gloom in the valley below, eyes fixed on the road. He strained for any sound beyond the faint chirrup of crickets, the song of birds, the gush of the nearby stream. A crow cawed as it landed on the fence.

There. Just there. A faint neigh. The rattle of a wheel against a stray stone. A cracking whip. Gwyn shoved against the rough wood post, leapt to his feet atop the fence, and wobbled once before he caught his balance. Perched, he soon made out the distant shape of the coming carriage, a single lantern bobbing to pierce the predawn shadows.

Gwyn grinned and jumped from the fence. The crow screamed and flew off. Gwyn loped along the streambank up toward the manor house. His shoulder-length hair flounced in his eyes, but he ignored it as he cut through a protesting gaggle of geese and threw himself against the kitchen door to stumble inside.

“Mercy, child!” cried Mavell, spoon in hand. “You look a sight. What awful trouble could there be so early as this?”

Gwyn shook his head as he gasped for air, leaning forward, hands on his legs. He gulped a few times before he could utter a word. “Lawen’s coming. Almost here. Down the road a bit.” He straightened and headed for a bucket of water on the table, took up a ladle, and helped himself to a long, cool drink.

The cook grabbed the ladle, poured water into a cup, and handed that to Gwyn. “Master Lawen, already? Surely not. He’s not to come until tomorrow, so his letter said.”

Gwyn drained the cup. He held it out to let Mavell ladle him another. “But he’s always early. I had a feeling to watch for him, and here he comes.”

“And how do you know it’s Master Lawen?”

Gwyn smiled. “I always know.”

She pursed her lips but didn’t argue. There seemed no point, they both knew that.

“Well,” the slender woman said, rubbing her hands against her apron. “If it is Master Lawen, oughtn’t you go off and clean yourself up for his arrival? Your mother will have a fit if you greet him looking like a shepherd’s boy.” She swatted Gwyn’s backside with the ladle. “Off with you, go on.”

Gwyn chuckled and trotted out of the kitchen and into a long gallery. His feet echoed against the flagstones. He cast a glance out the windows to find that full dawn had banished grey in favor of a thousand shades of green and brilliant gold. He could hear the geese and chickens griping and dogs barking as the carriage rolled along the private drive leading to the house. Gwyn thought he heard the crunch of gravel and his heart leapt.

Lawen! Home, at last. How long had it been? A year or longer. Mount Vinwen had felt hollow in his absence, though none of the others appeared to notice.

Gwyn reached his room, brushed off his trousers to dislodge any dirt or wood splinters, and changed his coarse shirt for fine woven linen. He slipped on stockings, yanked on a pair of polished boots, then caught his hair in a ponytail. A last inspection in his mirror. Gwyn awarded himself a curt, militaristic nod. He tugged one last time on his long shirt front, wrapped his belt atop it, clicked his heels, and headed downstairs.

In the main vestibule he found the rest of the ren Terares assembled, even Mother, though her lips pressed tight and her eyebrows arched above eyes sharp as needles. She turned toward Gwyn as he reached the bottom of the sweeping staircase and her gaze softened.

“Gwyn, dearheart. Thank you for not looking like a peasant this morning.”

He kissed her cheeks. “Good morning, Mother. I thought this occasion warranted the change.”

She sighed. “Yes, I suppose the master is home today.”

Gwyn brushed off her tone, not willing to let it seep in. He could understand her resentment in a way. Last year Tynveer ren Terare, Gwyn and Lawen’s blood father, had been killed in a skirmish against the savage Ilidreth. Now Lawen was the master of Mount Vinwen, and Mother, Tynveer’s second wife after Lawen’s mother had passed, now suspected her stepson would soon send her and her three children to live at another of his estates, but Gwyn knew better. There was no kinder soul in all Simaerin than his elder half-brother.

The sound of crunching gravel outside the front doors ceased as the carriage bounced to a stop. Gwyn’s younger sisters laughed and tumbled forward as the servants pulled the manor doors aside to admit the Master of Vinwen.

 

Author M.H. Woodscourt:

Writer of fantasy, magic weaver, dragon rider! Having spent the past 20 years devotedly writing fantasy, it’s safe to say M. H. Woodscourt is now more fae than human.

Her published titles include The Crow King, book one of her YA/High Fantasy Wintervale series, A Liar in Paradise and Key of Paradise of her YA/Portal Fantasy Paradise series, as well as October Cove, an Urban Fantasy novella.

All of her fantasy worlds connect with each other in a broad Universe, forged with love, sadism, and no small measure of blood, sweat, and tears. When she’s not writing, she’s napping or reading a book with a mug of hot cocoa close at hand.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

 

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Why Can’t Life Be Like Pizza?
The Pizza Chronicles Book 1
by Andy V. Roamer
Genre: YA LGBTQ Contemporary
RV is a good kid, starting his freshman year at the demanding Boston Latin School. Though his genes didn’t give him a lot of good things, they did give him a decent brain. So he’s doing his best to keep up in high school, despite all the additional pressures he’s facing: His immigrant parents, who don’t want him to forget his roots and insist on other rules. Some tough kids at school who bully teachers as well as students. His puny muscles. His mean gym teacher. The Guy Upstairs who doesn’t answer his prayers. And the most confusing fact of all—that he might be gay.Luckily, RV develops a friendship with Mr. Aniso, his Latin teacher, who is gay and always there to talk to. RV thinks his problems are solved when he starts going out with Carole. But things only get more complicated when RV develops a crush on Bobby, the football player in his class. And to RV’s surprise, Bobby admits he may have gay feelings, too.
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Why Can’t Freshman Summer Be Like Pizza?
The Pizza Chronicles Book 2
RV, having successfully completed his freshman year at the demanding Boston Latin School, is hoping for a great summer. He’s now fifteen years old and looking forward to sharing many languid summer days with his friend Bobby, who’s told him he has gay feelings too. But life and family and duties for a son of immigrant parents makes it difficult to steal time away with Bobby.
Bobby, too, has pressures. He spends part of the summer away at football camp, and his father pushes him to work a summer job at a friend’s accounting firm. Bobby takes the job grudgingly, wanting to spend any extra time practicing the necessary skills to make Latin’s varsity football team.
On top of everything, RV’s best friend Carole goes away for the summer, jumping at an opportunity to spend it with her father in Paris. Luckily, there is always Mr. Aniso, RV’s Latin teacher, to talk to whenever RV is lonely. He’s also there for RV when he inadvertently spills one of Bobby’s secrets, and Bobby is so angry RV is afraid he is ready to cut off the friendship.
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Andy V. Roamer grew up in the Boston area and moved to New York City after college. He worked in book publishing for many years, starting out in the children’s and YA books division and then wearing many other hats. WHY CAN’T LIFE BE LIKE PIZZA? is the first novel in THE PIZZA CHRONICLES. The books follow the exploits of RV, the teenage son of immigrants from Lithuania in Eastern Europe, as RV tries to negotiate the four years of his demanding high school, his budding sexuality, and new relationships. To relax, Andy loves to ride his bike, read, watch foreign and independent movies, and travel.
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Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!
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a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

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For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE.

I am an Amazon Affiliate. Product images are linked.

 

Why Can’t Freshman Summer Be Like Pizza?
Andy V. Roamer
(The Pizza Chronicles #2)
Publication date: June 1st 2020
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult

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Synopsis

RV, having successfully completed his freshman year at the demanding Boston Latin School, is hoping for a great summer. He’s now fifteen years old and looking forward to sharing many languid summer days with his friend Bobby, who’s told him he has gay feelings too. But life and family and duties for a son of immigrant parents makes it difficult to steal time away with Bobby.

Bobby, too, has pressures. He spends part of the summer away at football camp, and his father pushes him to work a summer job at a friend’s accounting firm. Bobby takes the job grudgingly, wanting to spend any extra time practicing the necessary skills to make Latin’s varsity football team.

On top of everything, RV’s best friend Carole goes away for the summer, jumping at an opportunity to spend it with her father in Paris. Luckily, there is always Mr. Aniso, RV’s Latin teacher, to talk to whenever RV is lonely. He’s also there for RV when he inadvertently spills one of Bobby’s secrets, and Bobby is so angry RV is afraid he is ready to cut off the friendship.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo

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Check out this peek inside:

After dinner tonight Dad asked me to help him prepare for the test. Yay! He’s finally stopped procrastinating. When I walked into his little study he was flipping through the test-prep booklet. But he didn’t look like he was studying. Instead he was turning the pages haphazardly and frowning. No, scowling is more like it. That’s more powerful than frowning, right? Kind of like frowning to the umpteenth power.

When he saw me he put the book down and started complaining again. About a lot of things. He told me that the immigration process was all a money-making racket. That it showed the country didn’t really want immigrants. That trying to become a citizen the honest way was foolish because there were easier, dishonest ways to do it. That he’d never learn all the questions no matter how hard he tried.

I just stood there not knowing what to say. Dad just can’t help himself, can he? Why does he get into his complaining mode so easily? We get so sick of it. And I knew what he’d say next—that he might just pack his bags and go back to the Old Country.

“Good. Then go!” Mom says when she gets exasperated with him at times like this. Ray and I aren’t brave enough to say anything. Correction. I’m not brave enough to say anything. Ray isn’t afraid. Of course he often gets a good wallop for talking back to Dad, but maybe the pleasure of talking back outweighs any physical pain he feels on his ass.

Dad suddenly stopped talking as if he noticed me for the first time. He took a deep breath, asked me to sit down, and handed me the prep booklet. Good, at least he’s going to try, I said to myself.

He told me to ask him some questions. I found the pages with test questions and we started. I tried to ask Dad easy questions first, to give him a boost. Questions like “Who’s the current President?” and “What’s the ocean on the western side of the United States?”

Dad got those questions right. Progress! But he’s got a long way to go because when we got to the harder questions, he either shook his head or gave the wrong answer. I can see I’ll have my work cut out for me for the rest of the summer. Another little chunk of summer gone. It feels weird, like I’m the parent and Dad is the child. But I do want both Mom and Dad to become citizens, so Dad will stop talking about going back to the Old Country.

Dad was quiet again after he couldn’t answer the harder questions. He was staring off into space, not looking angry anymore. Instead he looked lost. I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to leave and I didn’t. Here was this big guy I’m usually so afraid of looking like a little kid. A lost little kid.

Ar nori sustoti?” I asked. “Do you want to stop?” I told him we could continue another time.

He looked at me. “Nežinau.” “I don’t know.” He kept staring at me, but he wasn’t really focusing on me. It was as if he was looking through me, focusing on something far way. I asked him again if he wanted to stop.

He ignored my question and shrugged. “Gal šitas kraštas ne man.” “Maybe this country is not for me.” He kept repeating it. “Gal šitas kraštas ne man.”

He stopped and asked me what I had just said. I told him I didn’t say anything. I was just waiting for him to continue. He nodded and told me to ask him some more questions. But I could tell he wasn’t into it, and he kept getting most of the answers wrong.

I don’t know how long we both stayed there going over that dumb booklet. Dad’s thoughts were somewhere far away and we didn’t make much progress.

I finally mumbled something like, “Okay, I’ve got to do things for Mom. We can continue this another time.”

He nodded, still staring out into space. I slunk out of room, glad to leave.

But I was still thinking about Dad. Seeing him so sad got me really upset. I had never seen him like that. I felt bad for him. And for me too. Dad and I would have to work extra hard to pass that test. I’m determined to work as hard as we need to. There is no way I’m going let him take us back to Old Country. I’m still struggling to fit in here in my own country, which is hard enough.

Author Andy V. Roamer

Andy V. Roamer grew up in the Boston area and moved to New York City after college. He worked in book publishing for many years, starting out in the children’s and YA books division and then wearing many other hats. WHY CAN’T LIFE BE LIKE PIZZA? is the first novel in THE PIZZA CHRONICLES. The books follow the exploits of RV, the teenage son of immigrants from Lithuania in Eastern Europe, as RV tries to negotiate the four years of his demanding high school, his budding sexuality, and new relationships. To relax, Andy loves to ride his bike, read, watch foreign and independent movies, and travel.

Website / Instagram

 

GIVEAWAY!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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For a list of my reviews go HERE.

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To see all of my giveaways go HERE.

I am an Amazon Affiliate. Product images are linked.

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Today Julie Hall and Rockstar Book Tours are revealing the cover and an exclusive excerpt for STEALING EMBERS, book 1 in her brand-new YA Urban Fantasy, Fallen
legacies
series, which releases September 22, 2020! Check out the gorgeous
cover and enter to win a $10 Amazon Gift card!
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On to the reveal!
 
 
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Title: STEALING EMBERS
(Fallen Legacies #1)
Author: Julie Hall
Pub. Date: September 22, 2020
Publisher: Julie Hall
Formats: Paperback, eBook
Find it:  Goodreads, Amazon
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A realm of monsters. A world of lies. She
belongs to both.
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My name is Emberly, and everything I’ve ever
been told is a lie.
Monsters don’t exist. Wrong.
The nightmarish spectrum world is just my
imagination. Wrong.
In a few months, I’ll finally be free. Wrong.
It takes being dragged to a secret training
academy in the mountains to unravel the truth. My captors–an elite race of
angel-born warriors called Nephilim.
The deadliest of them all is an arrogant shape
shifter, Steel. He’s gorgeous, lethal, hot-headed . . . and convinced I’ll be
the death of them all.
Maybe he’s right. As soon as I show up, the
monsters that have haunted me my entire life breach the academy walls. My only
hope of saving my new friends is learning how to control my powers, but when a
stunning betrayal hurts someone I care about, I have an impossible choice.
Stay and fight for a place to belong . . . or
decide once and for all that I’m better off alone.
Enter the spectrum world, a realm in-between
worlds where shadow beasts draw blood, reality is a maze of twisted lights and
sounds, and life goals are whittled down to just one: survive.
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Fans of Jennifer L. Armentrout and Cassandra
Clare will love this Crescent City meets Crave mash up!
.
Exclusive Excerpt
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Steel takes a determined step toward me. His hair is
ruffled, his clothes covered in dirt and wet from the ice and snow, his hands
balled into fists. Even without a weapon, he’s a fierce sight to behold. With
golden light kissing his features, he reminds me of a modern-day Apollo,
dressed in a Henley and dark washed jeans.
“It’s you.” His whispered words full of awe and float to me
on a rippling band of light.
I begin to ask what he means, but I catch a sliver of
movement to my left and turn my head in time to see both Forsaken disappear
around the bend of the building.
Instinct says to follow them, but when I take a step in
their direction I’m thwarted by a six-foot-five, raven-haired angel-born.
“They’re going to—” My words die a quick death on my tongue
when Steel’s hand brushes a tangle of hair away from my cheek. The small
contact causes a tremor to work its way through his body.
He closes his eyes and steps into me.
I retreat a step.
“Finally,” he breathes, dipping his head to gently rub the
tip of his nose up the column of my neck before his lips just barely brush my
earlobe.
It’s my turn to shiver.
What is he doing?
my mind screams. And do I care? it
whispers as an afterthought.
Shaking my head out of a confused fog, I take another shaky
step back.
Yes, I do care. The boy must have hit his head harder than I
thought.
“Listen, Steel, we don’t have time for this. You’re not
yourself right now.”
I bring my hands up to push him back. He’s invading my
space—big time.
When I reach forward to give him a shove, he grabs hold of
my wrists and uses my momentum to bring me closer.
The guy has moves, that’s for sure.
One look in his eyes and I can tell he’s not all there. His
lids are lowered to half-mast and his gaze sweeps lazily over my features.
 Steel takes a step
forward, forcing my capitulation until he’s maneuvered me against the rough
bricks. A foreign sensation zips along my spine, as if something heavy is fused
to each vertebrae, weighing me down. I don’t have a chance to investigate
because Steel’s head is dipping again and I have nowhere to move within the
cage of his body.
I freeze, wholly unprepared for the situation. That gives
Steel the perfect opportunity to dive in and take what he wants.
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About Julie:
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Julie Hall is an
award-winning, USA Today bestselling author of young adult fantasy
fiction. 
 
Before writing her first novel Julie
worked as a film publicist and rubbed elbows with the rich and famous . . . as
in she would gently nudge them to let them know their meal had arrived during
press interviews.
She now spends most of her “office hours” with her two furry writing
buddies, Bear and Coco. Her daughter thinks that mommy’s superpower is
“sleeping all day,” but that’s because she’s often awake until the wee hours of
the morning weaving tales of adventure in worlds of her own creation. When
asked in an interview what she wanted to be when she grew up, she’s quoted to
have answered, “to never have to grow up.”She currently lives in Portland, Oregon with her four favorite people–her
husband, daughter, and two fur babies (because dogs are people too).  

Connect with Julie here, or on social media.

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Amazon Author Page | BookBub | Goodreads

Giveaway

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For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE.

I am an Amazon Affiliate. Product images are linked.

.
If you’re like me, you have a pile of books beckoning to you from your lists. Carole hosts this fun feature where you can share some of those older books and perhaps nudge you to finally read them. If you want to join in on the fun, head over to Carole’s Random Life In Books and leave a link to your post.
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The Fall

by Bethany Griffin

18241263

 

c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

Genre: YA / Horror / Psychological Thriller

Synopsis

Madeline Usher is doomed.

She has spent her life fighting fate, and she thought she was succeeding. Until she woke up in a coffin.

Ushers die young. Ushers are cursed. Ushers can never leave their house, a house that haunts and is haunted, a house that almost seems to have a mind of its own. Madeline’s life—revealed through short bursts of memory—has hinged around her desperate plan to escape, to save herself and her brother. Her only chance lies in destroying the house.

In the end, can Madeline keep her own sanity and bring the house down? The Fall is a literary psychological thriller, reimagining Edgar Allan Poe’s classic The Fall of the House of Usher.

Amazon

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I added this back on October 2014.

It sounded a bit different and I loved the cover.

 ~~~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

You can find a list of my reviews HERE.

For a list of free eBooks go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE

I am an Amazon Affiliate. Product images are linked.